Gallery Talk :: Blog

Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother on the front left fender of her 1965 Porsche

Born January 19, 1943, Janis Joplin brought her powerful, bluesy voice from Texas to San Francisco’s psychedelic scene, where she went from drifter to superstar. She has been called “the greatest white urban blues and soul singer of her generation.”

In this clip, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum curatorial director Howard Kramer shares the full story behind 1995 Hall of Fame inductee Janis Joplin's famously psychedelic 1965 Porsche 356C Cabriolet. The car is among the featured artifacts at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

In early 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, unveiled a new collection of Rage Against the Machine artifacts, including this Chevrolet Astro van owned by Tom Morello and used by the band in its earliest days. In this behind-the-scenes video, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's director of collections management Jun Francisco shares the making of the exhibit, from its arrival at the Rock Hall's secret storage facility to collecting Rage Against the Machine instruments to moving the van into the Museum in Cleveland to readying everything for exhibition. Tom Morello shares the backstory of the van.

Opened in December 1967 on London's Baker Street, the Beatles' Apple Boutique closed less than a year later in July 1968. Paul McCartney initially described the shop as "a beautiful place where beautiful people can buy beautiful things." At the time of the shop's closing, however, his enthusiasm had waned. On display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in the Museum's Beatles exhibit is a mandarin collard green velvet jacket from the Apple Boutique. In this clip, assistant curator Meredith Rutledge-Borger discusses the Apple Boutique and how it and this jacket were indicative of an era. Visit the Beatles exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, to see more from the Fab Four.

On February 11, 2013, Robert Lockwood Jr.'s custom 12-string electric guitar was placed on permanent exhibit in the Roots of Rock and Roll galleries at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Lockwood Jr.'s widow, Mary Lockwood, joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in presenting the famed bluesman's unique guitar, which was his primary instrument until his death in 2006 at age 91.

Lockwood was taught to play the guitar by fabled songwriter and guitarist Robert Johnson, the first modern bluesman, and recorded as a solo artist for more than half a century. In this clip, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum curatorial director Howard Kramer shares the story behind the guitar Lockwood called "the most beautiful guitar I've ever seen" and why Lockwood was crowned the king of Cleveland blues.

On May 24, 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, will unveil a new, two-story retrospective exhibit titled "Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction." Among the artifacts to be included in the Rolling Stones exhibit is the original collage art design that would appear in the inner gatefold sleeve of the group's Their Satanic Majesties Request.

Their Satanic Majesties Request was a psychedelic response to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was released seven months prior to the Stones' effort in 1967. With psychedelia in full-swing, 1967 proved an eventful year for the Rolling Stones – most infamously following the arrests of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on drug charges following a police raid during a party at the latter's Redlands home in Sussex. Among those also in attendance, though not detained, was Richards' friend and photographer Michael Cooper.

Throughout the Sixties, Cooper, a fixture on the London art and music scenes, captured many iconic images of artists, including the Beatles, Eric Clapton and Marianne Faithfull. However, arguably his most candid images came from his time with the Stones. (pictured, left: original collage art for Their Satanic Majesties ...

1979 U2 poster from music venue McGonagles in Dublin, on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame Inductees U2 – vocalist Bono (born Paul Hewson), guitarist the Edge (Dave Evans), bass player Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. – formed at Mount Temple School in Dublin in 1976. The four originally dubbed themselves Feedback, then later the Hype. On St. Patrick's Day in 1978, the Hype – now calling themselves U2 – traveled from Dublin to the city of Limerick in the midwest of Ireland to perform at a talent contest sponsored in part by CBS Records and Guinness. U2’s three-song performance won first prize, including a trophy that's part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's U2 Featured Collection, £500 and a demo recording session. That session led to the group's EP called U2-3.

Watch the video below as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame curator Meredith Rutledge-Borger shares the stories behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's U2 collection, and a time when the group were playing in Irish clubs with £1 covers and writing their own press releases "full of lies."

AC/DC guitarist and Hall of Fame inductee Angus Young featured in the Rock Hall of Fame and Museum

"Clichéd as it might be, we've always been a good, hard rock and roll band," Angus Young has said of his group, 2003 Hall of Fame inductees AC/DC. More than simply "good," AC/DC has reigned as one of the best-loved and hardest-rocking bands in the world for decades.

In this Gallery Talk clip, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum curatorial director Howard Kramer shares the story behind the iconic schoolboy outfit worn by AC/DC guitarist Angus Young. This outfit – along with other items from AC/DC's lengthy career – is on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, in the heavy metal section of the Museum's Cities and Sounds exhibit.

On April 18, 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame officially ushers the 2013 class of inductees into the Hall of Fame during the 28th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The class – Lou Adler, Heart, Quincy Jones, Albert King, Randy Newman, Public Enemy, Rush and Donna Summer – are represented in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland's newest exhibit. In the series of clips below, get a behind the scenes look at the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees exhibit. Visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to see the new exhibit!

Lou Adler

Heart

Quincy Jones

Albert King

Randy Newman

Public Enemy

Rush

Donna Summer

The Rock Hall Blog

This is where we will post insights from Rock Hall staff and guest writers about exhibits, events, concerts and more with an emphasis on lesser known facets of the Rock Hall. Consider this your backstage pass.